Naps, Birthday Boxes, and Flexible Hours: Work at Stack Exchange

“When you talk to an engineer, and tell them you work at Stack, their eyes light up,” says Lowell Gruman, Jr., a sales representative for Stack Overflow Careers. “It’s amazing how excited and thankful they are for what we do here.”

Stack Exchange is an online resource for information-seekers—and with 136 outlets covering everything from cooking to computer programming, users are guaranteed to get their questions answered.

Laura Dobrzynski-Gessner, a product manager, couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the company’s (admittedly awesome) mission. “We get to try all kinds of things, pursue different interests, and ultimately try to make the internet a better place,” she says.

But Stack Exchange isn’t just making the internet a better place. It’s also making its office, well, the best place.

Stack Exchange knows many people perform at their peak when they’re not being micro-managed, so employees get the freedom to work when they want and how they want. Whether team members are at their desks, the coffee bar, the couch, or even in one of the office’s many nap rooms, they’re given free range to complete their tasks without question.

Kasra Rahjerdi, lead for the mobile development team, definitely enjoys this flexibility. He doesn’t show up at the office until lunchtime; then after he catches up with the product managers, he’s off to play some video games before settling down to work.

Oh, and video games? They’re kind of a big deal at Stack’s offices. Take what happened when Mario Kart came out. The team quickly became addicted: An entire conference room became a dedicated playroom, and Rahjerdi was even able to spend three workdays creating a tool that texts co-workers and invites them to play.

Apart from a tradition of playing games and having fun, Stack Exchange also has a tradition of birthday boxes—a tradition that’s actually been around since the company’s inception. On a team member’s birthday, he or she receives a personalized meal and a party package that’s not only fully customized but filled with special treats prepared by the office’s chefs.

Ready to make the internet a better place—and open your very own birthday box? Check out Stack Exchange’s offcies, then
go get your next job
.